Friendly fire or blue on blue incidents are often seen as an unavoidable result of combat, whether in the military arena or in the course of police work. Although these incidents only account for a small percentage of overall military or police casualties, they have a great negative impact on morale, causing forces to doubt the competence of both their command and their fellow soldiers or officers. Although friendly fire may be attributed to a general “fog of war”, errors of identification and/or faulty technology are often to blame.
For example, poor terrain and visibility may disorient soldiers such that they cannot easily identify the direction from which enemy fire originates. Low visibility conditions may also result in the shooting of a friend mistaken as a foe. Combat stress may cause panic or clouded judgment amongst soldiers or officers. Highly mobile battles may result in low-level disorientation, as both landmarks and the relative position of enemy forces are subject to change. Battles involving troops from many nations may also lend to errors in differentiating a fellow soldier from an enemy. The shooting down of a British aircraft by a U.S. Patriot battery during the Invasion of Iraq and the Tarnak Farm Incident, both during the first Gulf War, are examples of friendly fire amongst multi-national allies.
Throughout history, attempts have been made to reduce friendly fire through enhanced recognition. From the earliest days of warfare, armies adopted unique suits of armor and/or crests to distinguish themselves from enemy forces. During World War II, Allied aircraft were painted with invasion stripes prior to the invasion of Normandy, to assist in identifying the aircraft. Later, German aircraft were brightly painted to distinguish them from Allied fighter planes. The advent of radar led to identification of aircraft via radio beacons. However, as evidenced by tragedies such as the 1994 Black Hawk shoot-down incident, the American-on-American bombing during the Battle of Nasiriyah (2003), and the April, 2011 killing of two U.S. servicemen (mistaken for Taliban fighters) by a U.S. Predator drone, the technology of recognition has not kept pace with other technologies of war.